Mini retro chairs, ranch house, SALE!

I'm not a sale, coupon or deal blog, but man, I can't resist posting some of my favorite things! I just made it through one of my favorite catalogs from cb2 I saved from Christmas because I loved the cover (they're part of the crate and barrel fam). I was drooling with gross delight last night over these mini retro chair ornaments:

I kept the catalog out so I could see if they were on sale today since they were technically Christmas ornaments, and wouldn't you know it they were--$.50 each on sale!!!!!!!!!!! I bought a few, and then some more. I might use them as ornaments, but I think I might use them as a wall display on a shelf or something.

I know I might sound like a nut, but I have had this page from their catalog torn out and on my fridge for close to 4 months now because I love this house. Actually, I had a bigger page torn out that has a huge picture of Jackie O in a living room and everyone things I have it up because I like her, but then on a small shelf is this little gem.

I can't really explain why I love it so much, but I do. I want to move right in. And I understand now why my girls love to play house so much, I want to set up shop with my little chairs and this house. But this small house is $60.

Then I saw this snow globe, which I fell in love with since I also love snow globes, and it was $40. Still pricey and it's not as cute as the real deal, but it catches the gist of it. Just checked on the sales page, $15. Wahoo! It might not be merely a Christmas decoration in this house.

Q: Do you like this sort of thing?

The "F" word, from a kindergartener

Hazel got serious at dinner last night and said that so and so said the "F word" at school. Josh and I shared a quick glance and then asked Hazel what word, she didn't want to tell us. So we asked what it rhymed with and she reluctantly told us, "art."

I dread the day when the rhyme changes.

Zara sale-Girls dress $10 Free shipping

I love Zara's kids clothes. Looooove them. We bought the girls outfits for our family picture there and I just got an email from them and decided to just drool for a bit even though I think I've bought things there maybe 4 times in my life, and only once for my kids.

But get this, with their new online shop, it's free shipping and they're having a sale. One of the best things is this dress for $10.

Josh was looking over my shoulder and told me to buy it, which was a bit surprising since he usually says don't buy, doesn't matter what it its, that's just his usual advice :). I bought two more adorable dresses.

If you get things for you kids there though, they tend to run much smaller than other brands. I bought my 5 yr old, 60th % in height and weight, a size 7/8.

Happy Zara!

1 Day Picaboo coupon

I've used Picaboo for a few photo books and I really like that you can customize them any which way. I think they have way too many options for picture backgrounds, and not enough of the styles I would like (or at least can find), but they always have great sales, the best customer service and pretty decent books.

They are having a ONE DAY sale that ends in 13 hours, so if you're interested in making a photo book, they are selling a $100 gift card for $30, you can buy three. I just made the worlds largest photo book and when it rang up, it was $160, and I was hoping to eventually get one for each kid by waiting for coupon deals, so I just bought three coupons to go towards them.

Enjoy!

BYU Divine Comedy "I'm Good"

Burts Bees Deal

Any Burts Bees fans out there? You might be interested in this $20 grab bag, regularly $50. You do have to pay $5 shipping, so that stinks, but still looks like a good deal. This pic is lasts years I think, so you don't know what you'll get, but fun huh? I hear they sell out.

http://www.burtsbees.com/other/gift-sets-kits/grab-bag.html?cm_mmc=CJ-_-3399648-_-3529301-_-Burt%27s+Bees+Home+Page

$5 presents

I've been doing all but writing on my blog, which I miss, but now isn't the time for me to be writing much on it either, so I am copying and pasting a great post form someone else. My family has been talking recently about gift exchanges and how to make Christmas more meaningful. We switch it up every year, but one of my favorite years was when we did a $5 gift for our person or family we were giving too. It was a fun challenge and there were some cute things passed around. I was buying for my sister and bought her collapsible measuring spoons that shipped free from amazon. Nothing remarkable, but fun and hopefully useful.

This year we recently decided to scrap the gift exchange and get presents for someone who's Christmas might be more meager. We tossed the idea around of still doing $1 store presents or something else cheap but thoughtful. My little sister had a cute idea of sending our person Top Five lists of our Top Fives, like out top five favorite songs, top five fav blogs, top five recipes, top five books, etc. I thought that was a great idea, free and thoughtful and keeps us connected. In the spirit of cheap, fun gifts, I found this blog full of cute cheap ideas that kids would love.

Hope you have a Merry Christmas that doesn't blow the bank!

http://www.hereinthelovelywoods.com/2011/12/best-toys-5-can-buy.html

In her honor, I'd like to continue the GeekDad list (Stick, Box, String, Cardboard Tube, Dirt) with a few of our own kid-tested, mother-approved favorites.

1. Straws. You've heard of Tinker Toys? Granted, those will last longer, but give a child a 99-cent box of drinking straws and you might be surprised at the creations that will result.

2. Bubble Wrap. I personally know of at least two adults who tied a ribbon around a roll of bubble wrap and gave it to a child for Christmas, only to find that all other presents paled in comparison. Want to win the Cool Relative Award? Snap, crackle, pop.

3. Hammer. Nails. Wood. A friend of mine once gave her oldest son a pile of scrap lumber and some tools for Christmas. That's terrific ... but how about this? My neighbor, Emily, stopped by one day to dump a tree stump on our doorstep. "That's for your kids!" she called cheerfully as she drove away. Sure enough, they pounded nails into that thing until they had chain mail. Thanks Emily!

4. Duct Tape. Ian likes to remind me that it's just like The Force: It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds everything together. I can't begin to describe the number of things that have been manufactured at our house with this substance. Bonus: It now comes in fluorescent colors and funky patterns. Check your local craft store.

5. Aluminum Foil. Caroline has made probably hundreds of things from this, from origami objects to multiple pairs of shoes. We usually give her a roll for long car trips, and we've had certain houseguests bring her a roll when they come to stay. Isn't it endearing to have adults in your life who understand how your child ticks?

6. Fire. As in, matches and candles. Blah blah blah parental supervision blah blah blah responsible oversight blah blah blah. Don't send the authorities after me. But seriously, friends. Do you know how long my two girls can sit at a table melting candle wax, watching the shape of candles and flames change before their eyes, sculpting creations from wax, making fake sealing wax for fake letters, etc.? Answer: a very long time. In fact, I had seven girls at this house just yesterday doing this for a solid hour.

What do you think about hair color?

What do you think about dying your hair a non-traditional color?

Which picture would you buy?

For years I've wanted to buy a picture of the Savior, but haven't found one I just love, and they're sorta expensive, so we've never done it. I really want to get one and get it hung before Thanksgiving, so I've just decided to get one anyway since I'm not sure there are any out there that I love artistically. These are my top three choices:

1. This is just a classic great picture of the the Savior. I also like the red color vs the more muted ones in the next pic.

2. I like the story of the lost sheep and having that on the wall as a reminder to help those in need.

3. Mary and Martha with Jesus. This is probably my favorite one, but I can only get it in a small size or big, no middle ground. I think I'll probably end up getting it because this story is so important to remember as a mother and having it right there as a constant reminder would be helpful. Oddly, I could only get a small and big pic, but no middle ground :). So here you get both.

Q: Do you have any pictures of Christ that you love? If so, tell me who it's by! Thanks!

Day 15 and 16, local festivities and early to bed

I'm thankful for local festivities like a totally fun tree lighting party at a mall near us with all sorts of fun things like hot chocolate, cookies, ice cream, candy, cds--and all free!

Today I'm thankful for kids that asked to go to bed early. WHA? We're talking one asleep on the couch at 5:15 and the other asking to go then. We had to cancel our dinner plans with friends so I could get them down.

Day 14, Thankful for down time

Today was the first day in a long time that I felt like I just had down time with my kids. Josh was gone the past two weeks and so I filled my schedule with all sorts of things, some purposely and some just had to. I felt like I had no time to myself and no time with just my kids. I was sad when I looked back on it because even though the kids had tons of fun playing with lots of friends and I got to do some things that I needed/wanted to do (like volunteer at Hazel's school), I was just bummed I didn't get more time with my kids, because I'm a stay at home mom so I can "stay at home with my kids." Unfortunately that doesn't happen enough.

Side note: I remember when we were doing our house renovations and our contractor just assumed I'd be home all the time because I was a "stay at home mom." It wasn't until then that I realized how mis-guided that term is, just like "morning sickness." I was hardly ever home it seemed.

Today though, I made sure to not have errands or extra stuff and we just read and did craft projects and played together and it was so rejuvenating for all of us.

Day 13, Thankful for baby sign language

Just this week we've been teaching Rhett a few signs (baby sign language). We started way earlier with the girls so I feel bad we haven't done it sooner for him and us, but the upside is that he's picked up on it super fast because he's older. I've been teaching him "Night night" and "Milk" and "Eat" and sometimes we do "More." Yesterday at church was when it really took off and he was alternating between "milk" (pumping his hang) and "night night." Only problem was that I couldn't do either for him right then :(. Here is a video of him before his nap (he'd missed his first one because we were at church so he was pretty wasted.)

AWESOME race video

Few things really move me to tears any more. But I couldn't help but get choked up when I saw this. I know that my girls really wouldn't get the power of this, but I was so into this I wanted someone to see it too so I had them watch it with me again. Hazel wants to watch it again!

Be inspired!

Decorating question for you all...

Hey non-crazy eyes out there, I need your help. My brain keeps going back and forth on something and I can't decide, so I'm tossing it out there to the masses for your expert advice. This will be Rhett's room. I plan to put 2ft x 2ft circles up on that wall behind his crib (a grid of 12). I originally thought I'd just use white for a clean modern look, but since it's a kids room, I don't want it to be drab and stark either, so then I thought all yellow. But when I put up my sample yellow on the wall, it looks a little too bright for covering a whole wall space (you can see the yellow stickers in the pic, they look kinda orange here). So now I'm considering these options:

1. All white circles--clean a modern, too bland and boring for kids room though?

2. All yellow circles--they're a bit punchy and bright, so not sure if they will overwhelm the room, but it is a kids room...

3. All pastel orange circles--fun, very little down side except that our main living spaces are a light turquoise and orange so I don't want to have the same all over

4. A variety of colors--pro, lots of fun, not boring, cons, not sure how they'll all combine together

His bedding will be brown and white (in front of crib in pic).

What should I do? Need to order asap.

Day 12, Thankful for cool weather

Today I'm thankful for cool weather.

I love how it makes me want to get warm and cozy and bake yummy things. We worked in the yard for most of the day again and it was so nice to be out in the crisp air and not dripping sweat. The kids rode bikes around us in their jackets with pink cheeks. It was so refreshing. I loved the grey sky too. Hazel said, "It's like it's still morning because they sky is grey." I thought that was cute. I love this weather for a weekend day when Josh is home and we can hang out as a family. Not my favorite when I'm alone and waiting for Josh to come home, but when we're working together and then relaxing, ahh, it's perfect.